My News
06.11.08
The Times - England lost plot in entertainment stakes
Watching the build-up to the Stanford match last weekend it seemed all along that England just didn’t get what the game was all about. To me, the key word and the concept that needed to be embraced was “entertainment”. England failed to pick that up.
They became so distracted that the result hardly came as a surprise and that is taking nothing away from the Superstars, who played brilliantly.
It was never a game for a trophy or an urn. The personal cheque of $1million for each player on the winning team was the dangling carrot that gave the whole concept its appeal. Anybody in any walk of life, sport or business, would love the opportunity to win that kind of sum in a day. To look at England and listen to comments last week, the players never appeared to see it as a pleasure.
Saturday was always going to be a great occasion and I think that England missed a trick. They could have said that they were looking forward to a carnival atmosphere, to an evening of great entertainment for the crowd with a fantastic chance to earn $1million. They could have talked up the whole spectacle – yes, acknowledging the money, but emphasising how it would generate a really exciting game.
The public are not dummies. I think opinion turned against England because there seemed to be too much whingeing. In defence of the players, the ECB should have anticipated any issues that might crop up. However, there are bound to be small problems caused by misunderstandings in anything being tried for the first time. England made a mistake in trying to fight them.
Let’s take the example of Allen Stanford walking into the dressing-room. That wasn’t exactly a spying mission in the middle of a tense Ashes decider. Instead of getting uptight, players could have said something like, “Hello, mate, how are you going?” They might have asked him about his love of cricket or his businesses. Who knows – they might even have picked up a tip or two for the longer term.
Stanford is somebody we should want to be involved. He is making a huge investment and it is vital for the world game that cricket in the West Indies is strong. If he wants publicity in return, then he is no different to every other sponsor. Basically, he wants cricket to grow. Don’t we all? Anybody watching their first cricket match on TV on Saturday – in the United States, for example – would have been captivated.
The ECB has committed itself to a review and is considering whether to switch from putting up an England team to something like the English Superstars. I just think that would be missing the point again and demeaning the spectacle. All we are talking about is 40 overs of cricket per year and a few days leading to the big day. Just go out there and entertain – what is there to lose?
As for the game, the Stanford team looked up for it almost from the start. They were bound to be nervous for the first couple of overs, but they had a good plan and executed it really well. Bowlers changed their pace and didn’t panic when the batsmen moved around the crease. Once they had their noses in front, they did not give England a way back. They were ruthless.
Victory for some of the Stanford guys really will be a life-changing experience. I expect they will all have a few more friends already. Good luck to them. The celebrations have probably just about ended, but Saturday night would have been special, with lots of Calypso music and rum, and the world’s coolest cricketer – just ask him – Chris Gayle at the heart of it all.
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